The Principles of Justice
Australia’s legal system, based on the rule of law, involves a number of key principles which aim to ensure that all citizens of Australia are treated fairly and equally by the law. These principles of justice were created to help keep Australia’s legal system less corrupt, ensure the fairness of everyone before the courts and to guarantee that wrongdoings are prosecuted. For example, one principle of justice is the presumption of innocence. This principle indicates that the accused must be treated as if innocent until proven guilty. Other principles of justice include: the judiciary must be independent and impartial, the right to an appeal, the right to silence and high quality evidence. High quality evidence refers to evidence that is reliable, rightful, and has been gathered correctly. Unfortunately, in the Scott Austic case, various of these principles of justice had been violated which resulted in a messy and unfair trial.
The Scott Austic case contained drastic violations of the principle ‘the right to high quality evidence’. In 2007, Scott Austic was accused of murdering his 22 weeks pregnant partner Stacey Thorne. She was stabbed 21 times in her home, stumbled outside, collapsed and died on a neighbour’s front lawn. In 2009, Scott Austic was found guilty of willful murder and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in jail – and all because of evidence tampering. This planted evidence included: a knife with Ms Thorne’s blood on it in a paddock near Scott Austic’s home (see image above), a can with Scott Austic’s DNA on a verge outside Ms Thorne’s home, a bloodstained cigarette packet in Mr Austic’s home, and the supposed dishonesty when asked what he was wearing at the time of Stacey Thorne’s death. Police curated a motive – Scott Austic did not want Stacey Thorne to have his child – inspired by a text Austic sent Stacey Thorne 10 days before her death reading “I will do anything for you not to have it. Just please let me know. I’ll do anything.” Scott Austic’s appeal to challenge the outcome of his case was denied in 2010, however, 8 years later he was granted an appeal to challenge his conviction after suspicion arose regarding the evidence found by police. The right to high quality evidence was blatantly disregarded by the Western Australian police force, as found that all the evidence previously found by them, listed above, had been planted against Scott Austic to prove him guilty. They continued to attest that the previous professional scans for evidence had missed the evidence the police force found, which in the first place was highly unlikely. In Austic’s re-trial, it was found that the stab wounds on Stacey Thorne did not match the length of the knife the police found as evidence, and that the cigarette packet with Thorne’s blood on it was not found in any photographs or video footage taken on the same scene by forensic police previously. This disregard for the right to high quality evidence completely twisted Austic’s trial, and resulted in an innocent person locked behind bars.
However, despite the negligence of the right to high quality evidence by the police, a principle of justice that was rightfully upheld was the right to an appeal. The right to an appeal allows people who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their trial to have their case reviewed by a higher court, in the attempt to ensure that the courts arrive at the correct decision. Scott Austic applied for an appeal in 2010 and was denied, but this in itself was not a violation. His query for an appeal was heard, but the court decided to deny it. But then, in 2018, Scott Austic was granted a second chance to challenge his conviction after the evidence referred to previously was brought to light as concerning. This raising of concern was made by Austic’s legal team and WA Attorney General John Quigley, who referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. After the second appeal was heard, the re-trial was scheduled and Austic’s conviction overruled. Supporting the right to an appeal was something well implicated by the courts. In 2019, three Supreme Court judges administered a unanimous judgement for Scott Austic’s conviction to be overturned. This abiding to the principle of justice ‘the right to an appeal’ was what lead to Austic being justifiably exonerated and released from prison after more than twelve and a half years, and the exposure of the wrongdoings by the Western Australian Police force.
Another violation in this case includes the right to the presumption of innocence. The presumption of innocence is an important principle of justice, as it aims to make certain that everyone and anyone is treated equally throughout examination and trial, and that each suspect receives fair opportunities and investigation. It states that a person should be treated as if innocent until proven guilty at the closing of the case. Undermining this principle of justice, WA Police force narrowed in on Scott Austic. Throughout the whole investigation and trial, Austic was treated as if guilty. Because the police narrowed in on Scott Austic, investigating him and only him thoroughly, this resulted in an extremely short investigation and lead to the eventual conviction of an innocent person. The planting of evidence by the WA police force also ties in with the right to the presumption of innocence, as this act clearly indicates that the police involved wished for Scott Austic to be convicted and proven guilty. In this case, once again a principle of justice was vitally infringed, entangling the complexity of the case and leaving Scott Austic with a life in broken pieces and Stacey Thorne’s family at loss and subject to injustice.
Overall, Scott Austic’s case was terribly twisted, and justice was not upheld to a rightful extent. One of the only justifiable actions was the abiding to the right to an appeal. The miscarriage of the principles of justice such as high quality evidence and the presumption of innocence by the police created a complex and messy web of misfortune and pain for many people. Although, after release from prison, Scott Austic has the opportunity to reconnect with his family and rebuild his life, which will no doubt be difficult, but not unachievable with time. But Stacey Thorne’s family feels devastated. After the verdict, Stacey Thorne’s family said that the past thirteen years had been heartbreaking. “Where’s the justice? There is no justice” said Stacey Thorne’s sister’s niece. As a result of the wrongdoings by the police and their violations of the principles of justice, the Thorne family have had no justice served, Stacey Thorne’s murderer is unknown, the two families are wracked by grief, pain and stress, and Scott Austic is rebuilding his life from the roots.
Great work!